Have you ever watched The Smurfs and noticed that they use the word smurf for every adjective, noun, and verb? That´s sort of like how people use the phrase ´pura vida´in Costa Rica. It literally means ´pure life´ but people use it to describe their lifestyle, to say hello and goodbye, to say ´cool, great, thanks!´ etc. A jack of all trades type of phrase.
Warning - This is boring, just a log of our trip to Costa Rica. If you are not insanely interested in every moment of my vacation, feel free to stop reading now.
Day 1
Becca and I arrived in Costa Rica, grabbed our rental car and thank god, were able to procure the last available GPS, without which I would not be writing this post as I´m sure I´d be stuck in a ditch somewhere.
The drive from San Jose to Arenal was craziest drive I´ve ever experienced. The drive took about 3 hours, of which we only had about 30 minutes of daylight. The roads were windy and treacherous, the drivers around us were insane, and we could barely see 10 feet in front of us. Thanksfully, I never get car sick. Even more thankfully, with our GPS we could see where the road was curving, and it even alerted us to things like speedbumps, sunken roads, and dangerous bridges. Fun alerts, I know.
Anyway, we made it there in one piece, and neither of us vomited. Already a huge accomplishment.
Day 2
Wrote day 3 first and can´t think or concentrate anymore. There was hiking and erupting volcano spewing molten lava. It was pretty damn cool. There was also hot springs and crazy monkeys - my absolute all time favorite drink (even more than my grenadine concoction that some of you might recall).
I´ll come back to day 2 later.
Day 3
Sloths, Monkeys, Snakes, oh my!
We woke up early and headed out to hike around the ´hanging bridges´ which are a series of suspension bridges in Volcan Arenal National Park (not actually a national park, it´s privately owned, probably for the best). Our tour guide Jason was amazing and extremely knowledgeable about the flora and fauna. I could probably repeat some interesting facts like the fact that you can´t tell how old trees in Costa Rica are because they don´t have a cold season when the trees stop growing, so there are no rings in the trunks. But my main focus of this trip was to see a sloth (called perezosos in Spanish which also means lazy people). I don´t know why the obsessoin with sloths? Maybe because Ive never seen one in person? But that´s what I was looking for.
I´m happy to report that not only did we got to see a mother sloth and her baby (pictures to come) we also saw a bunch of howler monkeys, snakes, lizards, tons of butterfles, etc. It was a good day to be out in the rainforest.
After our trek, we went ´canyoning´. Ive never heard anything referred to as canyoning before, but it was basically rappelling and hiking down waterfalls. We met great people, excelled at rappelling (shockingly), and found that if we want to find really good-looking Costa Rican men, all we had to do was go on an adventure tour (did I mention that my Spanish has vastly improved in the last few days?).
Becca and I were so careful as to what we should pack and were positive that we had everything until after the trip we realized we were soaking wet and had no dry clothes. Minor oversight.
We got back to our hotel completely exhausted from the days activities and decided to get a massage and a Volcano Mud Mask (Becca is convinced that all they did was rub sand on our faces). Massages in other countries are always comical in some way or another. This one was amazing. They massaged us for 2 hours! But it was also really weird.
Becca was on a table just a curtain away and I really wish I knew another language besides English and Spanish at that moment so that we could talk to each other about how completely weird it was. I thought about mumbling in a fake southern acccent so that they masseuses wouldn´t understand, but decided that it was a bit too rude.
So what was weird about it? First they gave us our volcano mud mask where they put on rubber gloves to apply what seemed like sand to our faces. Rubber gloves?! Next they did reflexology which meant putting our feet in plastic bags full of lotion and mushing our feet around in the plastic bags. Next came the full body massage where they seemed to cover every inch of us (including an odd stomach massage) but seemed to neglect our backs and shoulders. I´m not even going to go into what they did to my hair.
Nevertheless, it was relaxing, fun, and funny, and caused Becca to pass out immediately, which is why I´m on the computer writing about our trip.
Well, we have to get up early to drive to Tamarindo for beach and surf lessons, and the storytelling part of my brain has ceased to function anyway, so goodnight and Merry Christmas!
xox
Lauren
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Last stop - Vietnam!
Erica and I are taking a break from our long day of touring the city of Hue, so I figured that I would try to write a quick (ha) email about our trip in Vietnam so far.
I have to admit that our first experience in Vietnam was not a positive one, as we got scammed at the airport by a taxi that ended up charging us about $180 for a ride to our hotel. We knew something was amiss, we tried to figure out what was going on, but in the end, we got a bit screwed. But luckily, we didn't hold it against the country for too long, and since then, have found Vietnam to be an amazing country! Actually, we have already started planning what we would like to do when we come back someday!
We started off in Hanoi, which has been the capital of Vietnam since 1945. It's a pretty big city (2nd biggest in Vietnam) and is located on the red river, which, due to all the clay, definitely looks red. Hanoi actually means "city in the river." The first thing that comes to my mind when i think of Hanoi is Motorbikes. There are millions of motorbikes that rule the city with few traffic laws or lights. I dont think i can accurately describe the chaos of it all, but I can tell you that Erica and I had to relearn the art of crossing the street. At first, we just stood there for 20 minutes waiting for the road to clear, but then with a little practice, and some advice from an American woman who lives in Hanoi, we were able to walk into traffic on a diagonal, not looking at the motorists so that they wouldnt think they could go in front of us. Not looking at oncoming traffic when you know about 50 motorbikes are speeding at you is a bit dizzying, but we made it through pretty well.
In hanoi we walked around the city, went shopping, had clothes tailor-made for us, and just explored a bit. We went to a few really good restaurants, and saw the Water Puppet show which was pretty amazing! The stage was a miniature pagoda in front of a small body of water. They told stories of dragons, fisherman, and legends with painted wooden puppets that would dance around the water. I know it doesn't sound THAT exciting, but it was unlike anything I've ever seen before, and was really impressive!
After we had had enough shopping for a little while (we have accumulated 2 new, large bags to bring home with us that are packed with stuff!) we took a day trip to Halong Bay (which means descending dragon, and was formed millions of yeras ago by an earthquake, since there are no volcanos around that area). Halong bay is one of the many UNESCO sites that we have visited on our trip, but this one is an especially beautiful landscape of limestone islands/mountains/caves that jut out of the emerald green water, into the blue and hazy sky. It's sort of an eerily beautiful place. We actually did a pretty cool trip there where it was just me and Erica and our guide Chang, who we loved! We drove there in a car (which took about 3 hours!) and had a big and beautiful boat all to ourselves to tour the bay with. We went into one of the limestone caves that is supposed to be the most beautiful, since it was only discovered in the 80s. All the rest of the caves were discovered long ago by fisherman who would take bits of stalagmites and stalagtites home with them as good luck symbols, which basically destroyed them, since they cannot grow anymore once touched by human fingers (due to the oil in our skin).
we drove the boat around, went swimming, and learned about all sorts of things from Chang. Mostly we talked about Vietnam, Buddhism, and her ex-fiance. After we returned from Halong bay, we packed our stuff and got ready to move on to our next city, Hoi An, which is in central Vietnam.
This is where we met up with Tham, our tour guide. He is really nice and funny and clean shaven, except for about 8 long hairs that reside above his adams apple. This is very curious to me, but I dont think I'll ask about it, because I dont want to be rude. Now we are in phase 2 of our trip, which is a private tour from Hoi An until we leave Vietnam. This was a very good plan, since we are nearing the end of our trip, and dont have to think about anything, since we already thought of where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do before we left. Now, all that we have to do is show up and learn about all the places we are visiting.
Hoi An is an amazingly beautiful city! It's really small (and navigable, which is good for me!) so we just walked around all day, checked out the market and the river, and all the little sites which include a very old, very beautiful japanese bridge, some of the old homes that have been preserved for many years, some of the pagodas, and also some Chinese meeting halls. Since China occupied Vietnam for about 1000 years, they have influenced a lot of things here, and the people with chinese heritage still keep up their traditions. So it's interesting to see the mix of classic Viet stuff with Chinese, and a bit of Indian influence as well. Here, we also went shopping and got clothes and shoes made for us! I would say that it was mostly a good experience, and we came out with mostly great stuff (just a very few exceptions, but it was worth it).
We also took a cooking class, which was one of the best parts of this leg of the trip! we woke up in the morning and were picked up by motorbike (erica riding on the back of one, and me on another). We rode along the streets with all the other motorbike traffic and no helmets. Normally, this is something I would freak out over, but it just seemed like a necessary experience (when in rome, you know?) and we were'nt going that far anyway. So, we joined up with some other people who were also taking the class, and headed to the market to learn about vietnamese spices and tools. I noticed that there was a couple speaking spanish, and also that their supposedly fluent guide was not fluent at all, so I volunteered to translate for them which, of course, was a bonus for all of us (even Erica practiced a bit of Spanish!). After the market, we took a boat ride along the scenic river to our cooking school, where we learned more about the herbs and plants that they use in their cooking (a lot of lemon grass and tumeric). Then, we learned how to make fresh rice paper/pancake that you make spring rolls with, we made a really delicious eggplant dish, spring rolls of course, vietnamese pancakes which are sort of like crepes with shrimp, shallots, and sprouts in them, and a few other things. Of course, when they put everything out for you all mixed together already and clean everythign up, cooking doesnt seem that hard. Erica swears that she will cook some of the food we learned about when we get home, but I'm not that optimistic (or for me, more like unrealistic) about cooking vietnamese food when i get home. oh well, it was really fun to do, and best of all, it was really tasty!
Now we are in Hue, which was the capital during the Nguyen (pronounced "win") dynasty. First the capital was Hanoi, then Hue, now back to Hanoi. Hue is the 3rd largest city in vietnam, but feels like its smaller. And it also feels like we are getting a real taste of how most vietnamese live by visiting this city (not that many tourists, lots of street markets, etc.). So far, its been really interesting, adn we have visited the tombs of 2 Nguyen emporors, one emporer that the people loved, Mihn Mong (sp??) and one that they hated, Tu Duc. they were different, but both beautiful. I'll have to show you all pictures when we get home. We also took a boat ride down the perfum river, which goes through the center of Hue. It is called the perfume river because bushes that used to line the river made it smell very fragrant and good. Sadly, those bushes are long gone, and now it doesnt smell like much.
So, we have done a few more things in Hue, but I will have to write about them later, as I have to go! Off to the citadel and forbidden city, so I'll try to write about those next time, or tell you about them when we return in just a few days!
Lauren Weitzman
"All I want is to be Googleable!"
I have to admit that our first experience in Vietnam was not a positive one, as we got scammed at the airport by a taxi that ended up charging us about $180 for a ride to our hotel. We knew something was amiss, we tried to figure out what was going on, but in the end, we got a bit screwed. But luckily, we didn't hold it against the country for too long, and since then, have found Vietnam to be an amazing country! Actually, we have already started planning what we would like to do when we come back someday!
We started off in Hanoi, which has been the capital of Vietnam since 1945. It's a pretty big city (2nd biggest in Vietnam) and is located on the red river, which, due to all the clay, definitely looks red. Hanoi actually means "city in the river." The first thing that comes to my mind when i think of Hanoi is Motorbikes. There are millions of motorbikes that rule the city with few traffic laws or lights. I dont think i can accurately describe the chaos of it all, but I can tell you that Erica and I had to relearn the art of crossing the street. At first, we just stood there for 20 minutes waiting for the road to clear, but then with a little practice, and some advice from an American woman who lives in Hanoi, we were able to walk into traffic on a diagonal, not looking at the motorists so that they wouldnt think they could go in front of us. Not looking at oncoming traffic when you know about 50 motorbikes are speeding at you is a bit dizzying, but we made it through pretty well.
In hanoi we walked around the city, went shopping, had clothes tailor-made for us, and just explored a bit. We went to a few really good restaurants, and saw the Water Puppet show which was pretty amazing! The stage was a miniature pagoda in front of a small body of water. They told stories of dragons, fisherman, and legends with painted wooden puppets that would dance around the water. I know it doesn't sound THAT exciting, but it was unlike anything I've ever seen before, and was really impressive!
After we had had enough shopping for a little while (we have accumulated 2 new, large bags to bring home with us that are packed with stuff!) we took a day trip to Halong Bay (which means descending dragon, and was formed millions of yeras ago by an earthquake, since there are no volcanos around that area). Halong bay is one of the many UNESCO sites that we have visited on our trip, but this one is an especially beautiful landscape of limestone islands/mountains/caves that jut out of the emerald green water, into the blue and hazy sky. It's sort of an eerily beautiful place. We actually did a pretty cool trip there where it was just me and Erica and our guide Chang, who we loved! We drove there in a car (which took about 3 hours!) and had a big and beautiful boat all to ourselves to tour the bay with. We went into one of the limestone caves that is supposed to be the most beautiful, since it was only discovered in the 80s. All the rest of the caves were discovered long ago by fisherman who would take bits of stalagmites and stalagtites home with them as good luck symbols, which basically destroyed them, since they cannot grow anymore once touched by human fingers (due to the oil in our skin).
we drove the boat around, went swimming, and learned about all sorts of things from Chang. Mostly we talked about Vietnam, Buddhism, and her ex-fiance. After we returned from Halong bay, we packed our stuff and got ready to move on to our next city, Hoi An, which is in central Vietnam.
This is where we met up with Tham, our tour guide. He is really nice and funny and clean shaven, except for about 8 long hairs that reside above his adams apple. This is very curious to me, but I dont think I'll ask about it, because I dont want to be rude. Now we are in phase 2 of our trip, which is a private tour from Hoi An until we leave Vietnam. This was a very good plan, since we are nearing the end of our trip, and dont have to think about anything, since we already thought of where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do before we left. Now, all that we have to do is show up and learn about all the places we are visiting.
Hoi An is an amazingly beautiful city! It's really small (and navigable, which is good for me!) so we just walked around all day, checked out the market and the river, and all the little sites which include a very old, very beautiful japanese bridge, some of the old homes that have been preserved for many years, some of the pagodas, and also some Chinese meeting halls. Since China occupied Vietnam for about 1000 years, they have influenced a lot of things here, and the people with chinese heritage still keep up their traditions. So it's interesting to see the mix of classic Viet stuff with Chinese, and a bit of Indian influence as well. Here, we also went shopping and got clothes and shoes made for us! I would say that it was mostly a good experience, and we came out with mostly great stuff (just a very few exceptions, but it was worth it).
We also took a cooking class, which was one of the best parts of this leg of the trip! we woke up in the morning and were picked up by motorbike (erica riding on the back of one, and me on another). We rode along the streets with all the other motorbike traffic and no helmets. Normally, this is something I would freak out over, but it just seemed like a necessary experience (when in rome, you know?) and we were'nt going that far anyway. So, we joined up with some other people who were also taking the class, and headed to the market to learn about vietnamese spices and tools. I noticed that there was a couple speaking spanish, and also that their supposedly fluent guide was not fluent at all, so I volunteered to translate for them which, of course, was a bonus for all of us (even Erica practiced a bit of Spanish!). After the market, we took a boat ride along the scenic river to our cooking school, where we learned more about the herbs and plants that they use in their cooking (a lot of lemon grass and tumeric). Then, we learned how to make fresh rice paper/pancake that you make spring rolls with, we made a really delicious eggplant dish, spring rolls of course, vietnamese pancakes which are sort of like crepes with shrimp, shallots, and sprouts in them, and a few other things. Of course, when they put everything out for you all mixed together already and clean everythign up, cooking doesnt seem that hard. Erica swears that she will cook some of the food we learned about when we get home, but I'm not that optimistic (or for me, more like unrealistic) about cooking vietnamese food when i get home. oh well, it was really fun to do, and best of all, it was really tasty!
Now we are in Hue, which was the capital during the Nguyen (pronounced "win") dynasty. First the capital was Hanoi, then Hue, now back to Hanoi. Hue is the 3rd largest city in vietnam, but feels like its smaller. And it also feels like we are getting a real taste of how most vietnamese live by visiting this city (not that many tourists, lots of street markets, etc.). So far, its been really interesting, adn we have visited the tombs of 2 Nguyen emporors, one emporer that the people loved, Mihn Mong (sp??) and one that they hated, Tu Duc. they were different, but both beautiful. I'll have to show you all pictures when we get home. We also took a boat ride down the perfum river, which goes through the center of Hue. It is called the perfume river because bushes that used to line the river made it smell very fragrant and good. Sadly, those bushes are long gone, and now it doesnt smell like much.
So, we have done a few more things in Hue, but I will have to write about them later, as I have to go! Off to the citadel and forbidden city, so I'll try to write about those next time, or tell you about them when we return in just a few days!
Lauren Weitzman
"All I want is to be Googleable!"
Cambodia!
Hi all,
We arrived in Cambodia a few days ago, and wow, what a beautiful country! just from looking around, I would say it's about 30% jungle, 30% rice paddies, 20% ancient temples (or "wats" as they are called here), 10% lake (largest in E. Asia), and 10% filled with people trying to scam tourists.
The airport in Siem Reap is particularly beautiful, albeit tiny. And on our way from the airport to the hotel, we passed by rice paddies, which are the greenest green you can imagine, and jungle (also green, but in a different way of course). seeing rice paddies up close, and seeing how labor intensive it is to grow rice, makes me feel almost guilty about how cheap it is, and how much of it we can eat in just one sitting. Actually, i was pretty horrified to learn that there are about 8000 grains of rice in just one cup! especially when each rice plant only yields a few grains of rice each. it would seem to me, that someone's whole crop (on one of the small patches of land that are sectioned off to each farmer) would produce just about that cup of rice! Although, in reality, it must be more (I hope!).
there are 14 million cambodians living here in cambodia (and about 6 million land mines left from the war 30 years ago). Cambodians generally make about $300 per year, so its a pretty poor, simple country. Although, their tourist industry is growing at about 30% a year, so hopefully, that will help!
Anyway, we arrived at our hotel called Borann, which is owned by a french do-gooder. he gives all the profits of the hotel to orphanages, and land mine victims. it is a typical khmer hotel, with a lot of foliage, lots of outdoor sitting areas, and little villas for everyone to stay in. We even have a typical cambodian shower (along with a western one) which is just a large urn filled with water and a bowl.
After we got settled in, we wasted no time in going out to see our first wat, the biggest religious site/monument ever created, Angkor wat. As magnificent and amazing as all the guidebooks and pictures made it sound, the real thing was even more impressive. We walked around there for a few hours, and then went on to go to dinner and a shadow puppet and dance performance put on by the children at the orphanage. we sat at our table, and ended up sitting with a brazilian woman as well, which turned out to be great fun! We all chatted, ate traditional cambodian food (well, erica ate pasta, but it was close...), and watched the children at work. the shadow puppets are really elaborate and told a few traditional stories. Then the kids came out and did some traditional dances for us that looked very similar to classical indian dance (thanks to keya, i know what that looks like). And there was this one little girl dancing who was not only perfect in her movements and completely beautiful, but also serene as could be. She didnt crack a smile until the end of the performance and was just pretty impressive and captivating. Everyone seemed to be talking about her at the end of the show!
We finished dinner, said farewell to dominique, or brazilian friend, and headed back for an early night (since we were waking up at 4am to see Ankor wat at sunrise!). we had met a really nice british family that night as well, and planned to go with the father, Rick, to the temples in the morning. unfortunately, our 'wake up call' which was really just a knock on the door, came an hour late! so we just missed sunrise, but were able to see his pictures, and still got there just as the sun was coming up in a colorful sky, so it was still worth waking up at literally (again) the crack of dawn. then rick took us to his favorite wat, Ta Prohm, which quickly became my favorite as well.
When the french discovered all these temples in the jungle, overrun with trees and foliage, they decided to work on their restoration, but they left Ta Prohm alone (mostly) so that people could see what happens after you abandon something like that for 500 years. There are monstrous trees growing all over the temples, through the windows, and roofs. Most of the trees they left are now actually holding the temples together, rather than ruining them (i think they took the other trees that jeapordized the structure of the temples, away).
At this point, its about 630am, so Erica and i headed back to our hotel for breakfast, adn then met up with our english speaking guide, Ra. he took us to a bunch of wats for the rest of the morning, until i must admit, both erica and i were completely "wated" out. So we hung out by the pool for a while and relaxed before meeting up with the british family again and we all took a trip to the floating village.
The floating village is on that very large lake in the middle of cambodia. There are people who live on boats and houses on boats in the lake, and move from one end to the other, depending on the season. This lake, so our guide told us, provides cambodia with 30% of their food, due to the fish that are caught there, and the water used to farm. it was amazing to see that people really did live on that lake in tiny tiny little homes (well, some bigger than others). There was even a flaoting school, and a floating missionary, not to mention huge fish, and a few crocodiles (said to be best to eat when they are 6 months old, because they are less chewy).
After the lake, we went to a market and browsed for a bit, and then went back out to eat a traditional Cambodian dinner (this time both of us did!). And Erica said that she might change her 'favorite food' from italian to Asian food... but only asian food in asia...
This morning, we decided to go for one last wat before we relaxed and hung out by the pool all day. Before we left, we visited the local bakery, and bought some of our favorite sugar bread for ourselves (along with all the other yummy/strange looking things) and for our favorite british family to say farewell, as they were leaving for thailand this morning. We left for our last wat, which was pretty far away, so we got to drive through the country-side, next to people on motorbikes filled with wood, or overflowing with coconuts. The last wat, Banteay Srei, was well worth the trip. While small, it was so intricate, that it could have taken someone ages just to look at each separate carving. it was also just exceptionally pretty.
And now, back at our hotel, we are hanging by the pool until our flight this evening to Hanoi.
Lauren Weitzman
"All I want is to be Googleable!"
We arrived in Cambodia a few days ago, and wow, what a beautiful country! just from looking around, I would say it's about 30% jungle, 30% rice paddies, 20% ancient temples (or "wats" as they are called here), 10% lake (largest in E. Asia), and 10% filled with people trying to scam tourists.
The airport in Siem Reap is particularly beautiful, albeit tiny. And on our way from the airport to the hotel, we passed by rice paddies, which are the greenest green you can imagine, and jungle (also green, but in a different way of course). seeing rice paddies up close, and seeing how labor intensive it is to grow rice, makes me feel almost guilty about how cheap it is, and how much of it we can eat in just one sitting. Actually, i was pretty horrified to learn that there are about 8000 grains of rice in just one cup! especially when each rice plant only yields a few grains of rice each. it would seem to me, that someone's whole crop (on one of the small patches of land that are sectioned off to each farmer) would produce just about that cup of rice! Although, in reality, it must be more (I hope!).
there are 14 million cambodians living here in cambodia (and about 6 million land mines left from the war 30 years ago). Cambodians generally make about $300 per year, so its a pretty poor, simple country. Although, their tourist industry is growing at about 30% a year, so hopefully, that will help!
Anyway, we arrived at our hotel called Borann, which is owned by a french do-gooder. he gives all the profits of the hotel to orphanages, and land mine victims. it is a typical khmer hotel, with a lot of foliage, lots of outdoor sitting areas, and little villas for everyone to stay in. We even have a typical cambodian shower (along with a western one) which is just a large urn filled with water and a bowl.
After we got settled in, we wasted no time in going out to see our first wat, the biggest religious site/monument ever created, Angkor wat. As magnificent and amazing as all the guidebooks and pictures made it sound, the real thing was even more impressive. We walked around there for a few hours, and then went on to go to dinner and a shadow puppet and dance performance put on by the children at the orphanage. we sat at our table, and ended up sitting with a brazilian woman as well, which turned out to be great fun! We all chatted, ate traditional cambodian food (well, erica ate pasta, but it was close...), and watched the children at work. the shadow puppets are really elaborate and told a few traditional stories. Then the kids came out and did some traditional dances for us that looked very similar to classical indian dance (thanks to keya, i know what that looks like). And there was this one little girl dancing who was not only perfect in her movements and completely beautiful, but also serene as could be. She didnt crack a smile until the end of the performance and was just pretty impressive and captivating. Everyone seemed to be talking about her at the end of the show!
We finished dinner, said farewell to dominique, or brazilian friend, and headed back for an early night (since we were waking up at 4am to see Ankor wat at sunrise!). we had met a really nice british family that night as well, and planned to go with the father, Rick, to the temples in the morning. unfortunately, our 'wake up call' which was really just a knock on the door, came an hour late! so we just missed sunrise, but were able to see his pictures, and still got there just as the sun was coming up in a colorful sky, so it was still worth waking up at literally (again) the crack of dawn. then rick took us to his favorite wat, Ta Prohm, which quickly became my favorite as well.
When the french discovered all these temples in the jungle, overrun with trees and foliage, they decided to work on their restoration, but they left Ta Prohm alone (mostly) so that people could see what happens after you abandon something like that for 500 years. There are monstrous trees growing all over the temples, through the windows, and roofs. Most of the trees they left are now actually holding the temples together, rather than ruining them (i think they took the other trees that jeapordized the structure of the temples, away).
At this point, its about 630am, so Erica and i headed back to our hotel for breakfast, adn then met up with our english speaking guide, Ra. he took us to a bunch of wats for the rest of the morning, until i must admit, both erica and i were completely "wated" out. So we hung out by the pool for a while and relaxed before meeting up with the british family again and we all took a trip to the floating village.
The floating village is on that very large lake in the middle of cambodia. There are people who live on boats and houses on boats in the lake, and move from one end to the other, depending on the season. This lake, so our guide told us, provides cambodia with 30% of their food, due to the fish that are caught there, and the water used to farm. it was amazing to see that people really did live on that lake in tiny tiny little homes (well, some bigger than others). There was even a flaoting school, and a floating missionary, not to mention huge fish, and a few crocodiles (said to be best to eat when they are 6 months old, because they are less chewy).
After the lake, we went to a market and browsed for a bit, and then went back out to eat a traditional Cambodian dinner (this time both of us did!). And Erica said that she might change her 'favorite food' from italian to Asian food... but only asian food in asia...
This morning, we decided to go for one last wat before we relaxed and hung out by the pool all day. Before we left, we visited the local bakery, and bought some of our favorite sugar bread for ourselves (along with all the other yummy/strange looking things) and for our favorite british family to say farewell, as they were leaving for thailand this morning. We left for our last wat, which was pretty far away, so we got to drive through the country-side, next to people on motorbikes filled with wood, or overflowing with coconuts. The last wat, Banteay Srei, was well worth the trip. While small, it was so intricate, that it could have taken someone ages just to look at each separate carving. it was also just exceptionally pretty.
And now, back at our hotel, we are hanging by the pool until our flight this evening to Hanoi.
Lauren Weitzman
"All I want is to be Googleable!"
On to Bangkok...
Hello everyone!
Well, Erica and I are now in Bangkok, which seems like the opposite end of the world from our last destination, Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is small, clean, and friendly, and Bangkok is a huge city filled with people who want to scam you, smog, and a million different smells that all hit you at once; amazing curry, fish, spices, incense, and freeze dried things that you wish you couldnt smell.
We stayed at a hostel in Chiang Mai called Julie Guesthouse and were so excited when we got there, because it just looked like a ton of fun! all these pretty lounges set all over the place with tons of cool people just sitting around making friends. Needless to say, we fit in "brilliantly" and made friends with a bunch of English and Dutch people. Chiang Mai is a quaint, pretty town, and Erica's future destination when she gets her midlife crisis (or so she says...). We decided to take a 2 day trip into the mountains to go hiking, elephant riding, white water rafting, bamboo boat rafting, and to stay overnight with a hill tribe. We set out with one Brit that we had met the night before, "Q" who is a professional poker player, and an incredibly funny guy, and we met 3 more brits; Christian, Hayley, and Lorna, and that made up our group for the trip. We had so much fun with them!
First, we rode on the back of a pick up truck (it was covered though) all squished in like sardines, which probably facilitated our getting-to-know each other. We finally reached the edge of the mountains, and started our 3 hour hike (which may have actually lasted longer..). There were probably 5 incidences where I thought i was going to die from falling off the edge of the mountain, slipping when jumping onto a rock (which Erica did, but she was fine), along with a million other little death traps. I kept thinking to myself "god, they would NEVER let people do this in the US!" which was scary, but also made it that much more exciting.
I would say that the last hour of the hike was almost vertical, straight up the mountain. We could see where we had started, and really longed to be there. I dont think I have ever struggled with something more in my life, than that last hour of hiking. There was one point when both Erica and I thought about just sitting down and giving up, but then, apparently there are tigers in those hills, so we decided to press on. Christian had bought "Puma" sneakers from bangkok which fell apart mid-trek (he is gay, by the way) and so everytime his shoes would cause him to fall down, we would all yell "lady-boy down!" even though they do not call gay men "lady boys" (transvestites are lady boys) it was still pretty funny to us.
I cant tell you what a relief it was to make it to the top of the mountain, we were aching everywhere, drenched with sweat, and full of mud from slipping and sliding all over, but finally we had made it. At the very top of the mountain was a little hill tribe, and it was very much like what you would expect. Children running all over the place among cats, dogs, chickens, and black pigs. We took showered happily in freezing cold water, and then took a look around. After walking for a bit, we went back to our little house that we stayed in, and hung out with the brits, playing a new cardgame called "shithead" (I lost, and became the shithead actually), and then had dinner. Literally the BEST spring-rolls I have ever had in my entire life! We ate and ate and when we got full, we wished we could eat more because the food was so incredible! we had spring-rolls (tons of them!), curry, and this really yummy fried omellet thingy. mmm. I dont know if I'll ever have spring-rolls as good as those ever again! We watched them prepare the whole meal from scratch.
We slept on mats under mosquito nets and after our 900 hour hike, we all slept like babies! The next day, we only had a 2 hour hike to get back down the mountain. You would think that going down was better than going up, but it was a bit more difficult. this time, if you fell, you were going to keep on going down. Luckily, we made it through ok, and stopped to have a swim in a huge and really beautiful waterfall. After that hike, it was off to ride the elephants!
At first, I was sad to hear that we were only to ride the elephants for one hour, but after getting on, I realized that one hour was quite enough. We rode on little seats on top of their backs, and while it was a really fun and novel thing to do, it certainly was not a comfortable ride. but we all laughed, and took pictures of each other, and fed the elephants bananas from atop their backs.
After this (I'm sure you can sense what a long day this was already!!) We went white water rafting, which was fun, and then took a slow ride sitting and standing on bamboo rafts gliding down the rest of the river. Finally, it was time to say goodbye to our tour guide "Dean," who we had grown incredibly fond of. while we were huffing and puffing and could barely climb anymore, he was running, literally running up and down the mountain to check on us and hold our backpacks for a while.
We headed back to Chiang Mai, cleaned up, and all six of us went to dinner. Christian got some really yummy curry, but at that point, I was starting to feel a bit ill, so I went with an American classic, spagetti. We went to a restaurant that was thought was so hilarious, because of a sign outside it that said "You may not believe it, but we have the second best pizza in Chiang Mai". We asked inside who had the best pizza, but they said they didnt know... hm... Anyway, we said our goodbyes, packed up, and headed to Bangkok. By the time we got there, I was not feeling well at all, and when I woke up, I knew that I was sick.
Luckily, I came equipped with antibiotics and started taking them right away. Our first day in Bangkok, I spent 23 hours in bed, one of those hours, I tried to go out and suck it up, but i could barely speak, and was losing my ability to walk, so Erica walked around by herself, and I slept for almost the rest of the time in our hotel room.
Today, however, I'm feeling much better, not 100%, but certainly better! We went to the grand palace in Bangkok, and to Wat Pho to see the reclining buddha, the largest in the world. I was truly not expecting to see what I saw, but let me tell you, it is HUGE!! We had a tour guide in the grand palace named "Ting" and while we had to concentrate to understand everything, he was really great, and we were grateful to have had him. Then we took a nice, relaxing boat ride through the canals in Bangkok where a lot of people live and seem to drive around in boats. I was proud of Erica for taking the boat trip, since she really doesnt like speed boats, or anything like them.
Now, we are just walking around Bangkok, and I think we will see a "lady boy" show tonight, or Thai boxing, and we are off to Cambodia tomorrow!
Lauren Weitzman
"All I want is to be Googleable!"
Well, Erica and I are now in Bangkok, which seems like the opposite end of the world from our last destination, Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is small, clean, and friendly, and Bangkok is a huge city filled with people who want to scam you, smog, and a million different smells that all hit you at once; amazing curry, fish, spices, incense, and freeze dried things that you wish you couldnt smell.
We stayed at a hostel in Chiang Mai called Julie Guesthouse and were so excited when we got there, because it just looked like a ton of fun! all these pretty lounges set all over the place with tons of cool people just sitting around making friends. Needless to say, we fit in "brilliantly" and made friends with a bunch of English and Dutch people. Chiang Mai is a quaint, pretty town, and Erica's future destination when she gets her midlife crisis (or so she says...). We decided to take a 2 day trip into the mountains to go hiking, elephant riding, white water rafting, bamboo boat rafting, and to stay overnight with a hill tribe. We set out with one Brit that we had met the night before, "Q" who is a professional poker player, and an incredibly funny guy, and we met 3 more brits; Christian, Hayley, and Lorna, and that made up our group for the trip. We had so much fun with them!
First, we rode on the back of a pick up truck (it was covered though) all squished in like sardines, which probably facilitated our getting-to-know each other. We finally reached the edge of the mountains, and started our 3 hour hike (which may have actually lasted longer..). There were probably 5 incidences where I thought i was going to die from falling off the edge of the mountain, slipping when jumping onto a rock (which Erica did, but she was fine), along with a million other little death traps. I kept thinking to myself "god, they would NEVER let people do this in the US!" which was scary, but also made it that much more exciting.
I would say that the last hour of the hike was almost vertical, straight up the mountain. We could see where we had started, and really longed to be there. I dont think I have ever struggled with something more in my life, than that last hour of hiking. There was one point when both Erica and I thought about just sitting down and giving up, but then, apparently there are tigers in those hills, so we decided to press on. Christian had bought "Puma" sneakers from bangkok which fell apart mid-trek (he is gay, by the way) and so everytime his shoes would cause him to fall down, we would all yell "lady-boy down!" even though they do not call gay men "lady boys" (transvestites are lady boys) it was still pretty funny to us.
I cant tell you what a relief it was to make it to the top of the mountain, we were aching everywhere, drenched with sweat, and full of mud from slipping and sliding all over, but finally we had made it. At the very top of the mountain was a little hill tribe, and it was very much like what you would expect. Children running all over the place among cats, dogs, chickens, and black pigs. We took showered happily in freezing cold water, and then took a look around. After walking for a bit, we went back to our little house that we stayed in, and hung out with the brits, playing a new cardgame called "shithead" (I lost, and became the shithead actually), and then had dinner. Literally the BEST spring-rolls I have ever had in my entire life! We ate and ate and when we got full, we wished we could eat more because the food was so incredible! we had spring-rolls (tons of them!), curry, and this really yummy fried omellet thingy. mmm. I dont know if I'll ever have spring-rolls as good as those ever again! We watched them prepare the whole meal from scratch.
We slept on mats under mosquito nets and after our 900 hour hike, we all slept like babies! The next day, we only had a 2 hour hike to get back down the mountain. You would think that going down was better than going up, but it was a bit more difficult. this time, if you fell, you were going to keep on going down. Luckily, we made it through ok, and stopped to have a swim in a huge and really beautiful waterfall. After that hike, it was off to ride the elephants!
At first, I was sad to hear that we were only to ride the elephants for one hour, but after getting on, I realized that one hour was quite enough. We rode on little seats on top of their backs, and while it was a really fun and novel thing to do, it certainly was not a comfortable ride. but we all laughed, and took pictures of each other, and fed the elephants bananas from atop their backs.
After this (I'm sure you can sense what a long day this was already!!) We went white water rafting, which was fun, and then took a slow ride sitting and standing on bamboo rafts gliding down the rest of the river. Finally, it was time to say goodbye to our tour guide "Dean," who we had grown incredibly fond of. while we were huffing and puffing and could barely climb anymore, he was running, literally running up and down the mountain to check on us and hold our backpacks for a while.
We headed back to Chiang Mai, cleaned up, and all six of us went to dinner. Christian got some really yummy curry, but at that point, I was starting to feel a bit ill, so I went with an American classic, spagetti. We went to a restaurant that was thought was so hilarious, because of a sign outside it that said "You may not believe it, but we have the second best pizza in Chiang Mai". We asked inside who had the best pizza, but they said they didnt know... hm... Anyway, we said our goodbyes, packed up, and headed to Bangkok. By the time we got there, I was not feeling well at all, and when I woke up, I knew that I was sick.
Luckily, I came equipped with antibiotics and started taking them right away. Our first day in Bangkok, I spent 23 hours in bed, one of those hours, I tried to go out and suck it up, but i could barely speak, and was losing my ability to walk, so Erica walked around by herself, and I slept for almost the rest of the time in our hotel room.
Today, however, I'm feeling much better, not 100%, but certainly better! We went to the grand palace in Bangkok, and to Wat Pho to see the reclining buddha, the largest in the world. I was truly not expecting to see what I saw, but let me tell you, it is HUGE!! We had a tour guide in the grand palace named "Ting" and while we had to concentrate to understand everything, he was really great, and we were grateful to have had him. Then we took a nice, relaxing boat ride through the canals in Bangkok where a lot of people live and seem to drive around in boats. I was proud of Erica for taking the boat trip, since she really doesnt like speed boats, or anything like them.
Now, we are just walking around Bangkok, and I think we will see a "lady boy" show tonight, or Thai boxing, and we are off to Cambodia tomorrow!
Lauren Weitzman
"All I want is to be Googleable!"
Erica and I arrive in Thailand
Well, after about 1000 hours of traveling (and one 10 hour flight with no movies, music, or reading lights!) Erica and I finally made it to Thailand. On the way, we had a lay-over in Tokyo and tried to savor Japan to the best of our ability, even if we only got to see the airport. Actually, it may have been slap-happiness since we had been awake for almost 24 hours, but either way, we had a great time, not to mention the best sushi I have ever had... in the airport!
Today we headed to the beach on Krabi and were happy to find ourselves at the most beautiful hotel! The Thai people are SO nice, it makes me feel bad that they wont let us walk 2 steps without taking our bags from us, or waiting on us hand and foot. We still haven't quite figure out if we should bow back to them or not...
Anyway, after we got settled, even though the weather wasn't ideal, we decided to take a break from all the travel craziness and swim in the GIGANTIC infinity pool. I think we managed to make one full lap to the end and back, which took us almost an hour and tired us out. We didnt want to wait too long for Keya to show up, so we decided to go into the next town over and go shopping! Both me and Erica bought some fun stuff for our apartments, and soon we'll head back to the hotel, reunite with our college roommate, and plan the day for tomorrow. I think we will either go to the beach at Ko Phi Phi (Island where The Beach was filmed), go kayaking, or go on a jungle hike... so many possibilities!
Anyway, just wanted to drop a quick note to let everyone know that we made it safe and sound, and are using plenty of bug spray.
Lauren Weitzman
"All I want is to be Googleable!"
Today we headed to the beach on Krabi and were happy to find ourselves at the most beautiful hotel! The Thai people are SO nice, it makes me feel bad that they wont let us walk 2 steps without taking our bags from us, or waiting on us hand and foot. We still haven't quite figure out if we should bow back to them or not...
Anyway, after we got settled, even though the weather wasn't ideal, we decided to take a break from all the travel craziness and swim in the GIGANTIC infinity pool. I think we managed to make one full lap to the end and back, which took us almost an hour and tired us out. We didnt want to wait too long for Keya to show up, so we decided to go into the next town over and go shopping! Both me and Erica bought some fun stuff for our apartments, and soon we'll head back to the hotel, reunite with our college roommate, and plan the day for tomorrow. I think we will either go to the beach at Ko Phi Phi (Island where The Beach was filmed), go kayaking, or go on a jungle hike... so many possibilities!
Anyway, just wanted to drop a quick note to let everyone know that we made it safe and sound, and are using plenty of bug spray.
Lauren Weitzman
"All I want is to be Googleable!"
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Go Canada!
On April 25, the Government of Canada declared a country-wide ban on the sale of inefficient light bulbs by 2012, partly due to the rapid adoption rate of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). I am all for energy efficiency and the environment, and I'm glad that SOMEONE is making some regulations on this stuff, but one question. What are we going to do with all the Mercury? There are trace amounts of Mercury in each CFL, nothing to fret about. However, replace all incandescent bulbs with CFLs, and then your trace amounts of Mercury become large amounts of Mercury that no one knows what to do with. Now we may have a problem. Anyone offer CFL recycling?
Lauren Weitzman
"All I want is to be Googleable!"
Lauren Weitzman
"All I want is to be Googleable!"
Friday, April 20, 2007
Thank you Sweden!
Thank you Sweden! At least SOMEONE is trying to take action against these deplorable, hideous shoes...
"Swedish Hospital May Ban Crocs" http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/04/20/ap3633730.html
Ok, Ok, so it's for "medical" reasons (static electricity is possibly the cause of three respirator malfunctions) but it's still a step in the right direction.
Thanks again, Sweden!
Lauren Weitzman
"All I want is to be Googleable!"
"Swedish Hospital May Ban Crocs" http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/04/20/ap3633730.html
Ok, Ok, so it's for "medical" reasons (static electricity is possibly the cause of three respirator malfunctions) but it's still a step in the right direction.
Thanks again, Sweden!
Lauren Weitzman
"All I want is to be Googleable!"
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
The Long Way Home
Well, I'm back from Vegas, and minus a few credit cards, I returned with exactly what I came with. No, my credit cards were not stolen. I happen to have a certain propensity to get into airport disasters. I swear, I get to the airport 2 hours early, I check my flight status a million times, and always make sure to have everything I need. The woman at security even complimented me on my packing skills, and said I had everything in perfect order, including all my 3oz. liquids safely packed in plastic bags. However, apparently efficient packing is not enough to get you safely through the airport experience. A valid I.D. and boarding pass, for instance, are extremely helpful. And had I not, in my sleep deprived delirium, left my purse in the taxi on the way to the airport, I would have had it all.
Unluckily for me, I DID leave my bag in a Las Vegas taxi. The purse contained all of my identification, credit cards, cell phone, boarding pass, ipod, and favorite lip gloss, among other things. When I walked inside the zoo, formerly known as the Las Vegas McCarran International Airport, only then did I realize that my bag was missing and started to panic. On a luckier note, I had a friend with me who was able to keep me relatively calm, and made calls to my cell phone and Vegas taxi companies. Sadly, the taxi companies were no help, and the women who answered my calls actually started yelling at me! This was not helping my delicate mental state. So we decided to get on one of the long lines and I figured that one of the ticketing people would know what I could do. I was so antsy though, I hardly waited in line for 10 minutes before going up to someone and asking “do you mind if I ask you an urgent question while you help these other people?” The woman looked at me annoyingly at first, but once she saw my clearly disheveled and tear-stained face, her glance softened and she nodded for me to go ahead. I told her that I had just lost my purse and asked if somehow I might still be able to fly tonight. The thought of being stuck in Vegas with no money, no credit cards, no phone, no nothing, was an absolutely terrifying thought!
Amazingly, as long as you are flying domestically, you don’t actually need an I.D. She took my friend and me right away, and sent us off to “super security,” where amazingly, there was no line. They checked for explosives in my bag, and patted me down a bit, but after that, we were on our way. My friend and I had reached the gate, and discussed the many ways it could have been worse while I used her phone to cancel my credit cards. There was another call coming in that I was going to ignore, but since it wasn’t my phone, I decided to take a look. It took me a moment to process, but all of a sudden I realized that the call waiting was coming from my phone!
I hung up on the credit card people and quickly answered. Yes! It was the taxi and he had just found my bag! Since we got through security so quickly, we had about an hour before our flight left, giving the taxi plenty of time to get back to the airport and give me my purse. I ran outside, and met the cab driver, gave him 8 hugs and told him how much I appreciated him coming back. I then happily gave him all the cash in my wallet, said goodbye, and headed back to the airport. I got to the gate just in time to board with my friend, and was in total shock that I had everything I came with. Obviously, it could have been worse.
Lauren Weitzman
"All I want is to be Googleable!"
Unluckily for me, I DID leave my bag in a Las Vegas taxi. The purse contained all of my identification, credit cards, cell phone, boarding pass, ipod, and favorite lip gloss, among other things. When I walked inside the zoo, formerly known as the Las Vegas McCarran International Airport, only then did I realize that my bag was missing and started to panic. On a luckier note, I had a friend with me who was able to keep me relatively calm, and made calls to my cell phone and Vegas taxi companies. Sadly, the taxi companies were no help, and the women who answered my calls actually started yelling at me! This was not helping my delicate mental state. So we decided to get on one of the long lines and I figured that one of the ticketing people would know what I could do. I was so antsy though, I hardly waited in line for 10 minutes before going up to someone and asking “do you mind if I ask you an urgent question while you help these other people?” The woman looked at me annoyingly at first, but once she saw my clearly disheveled and tear-stained face, her glance softened and she nodded for me to go ahead. I told her that I had just lost my purse and asked if somehow I might still be able to fly tonight. The thought of being stuck in Vegas with no money, no credit cards, no phone, no nothing, was an absolutely terrifying thought!
Amazingly, as long as you are flying domestically, you don’t actually need an I.D. She took my friend and me right away, and sent us off to “super security,” where amazingly, there was no line. They checked for explosives in my bag, and patted me down a bit, but after that, we were on our way. My friend and I had reached the gate, and discussed the many ways it could have been worse while I used her phone to cancel my credit cards. There was another call coming in that I was going to ignore, but since it wasn’t my phone, I decided to take a look. It took me a moment to process, but all of a sudden I realized that the call waiting was coming from my phone!
I hung up on the credit card people and quickly answered. Yes! It was the taxi and he had just found my bag! Since we got through security so quickly, we had about an hour before our flight left, giving the taxi plenty of time to get back to the airport and give me my purse. I ran outside, and met the cab driver, gave him 8 hugs and told him how much I appreciated him coming back. I then happily gave him all the cash in my wallet, said goodbye, and headed back to the airport. I got to the gate just in time to board with my friend, and was in total shock that I had everything I came with. Obviously, it could have been worse.
Lauren Weitzman
"All I want is to be Googleable!"
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Vegas baby, Vegas...
So, here I am in Las Vegas for a few days on business travel, and although I’m not going to say anything about work, or my business here, I will share some random tidbits that I’ve noticed since my arrival:
Happy crossing guards. When I think of crossing guards, my brain automatically sends me back to the 4th grade, where I can picture the stout, gruff, faces of annoyed adults waving children across minivan-filled streets. They did not seem like a particularly cheery bunch. Then I think about my commute to work every day through one of the busiest intersections in DC. Each morning, the crossing guards furiously blow their whistles, roll their eyes, and generally treat the work force like children who have yet to learn how properly to cross the street. I’ve never received very positive vibes from them either. But the crossing guards in Vegas, now they are a different breed all together. Each morning, I arrive at the convention center looking like I shouldn’t be up at 8am PDT (which still feels like 5am EDT). As I lazily stroll closer and closer, trying to suck up as much caffeine and sun as possible before I head into the buzz of fluorescent lights, there they are. Golden-aged, sun-kissed, smiling faces, waving me across the street with personal greetings to each passerby. They cannot know how much I have thought of them during my stay here, but they certainly make my Vegas life that much more pleasant. Maybe when I retire, I’ll head out west, stop sign and yellow vest in hand, and join the ranks.
Vegas thoughts to be continued…
Lauren Weitzman
"All I want is to be Googleable!"
Happy crossing guards. When I think of crossing guards, my brain automatically sends me back to the 4th grade, where I can picture the stout, gruff, faces of annoyed adults waving children across minivan-filled streets. They did not seem like a particularly cheery bunch. Then I think about my commute to work every day through one of the busiest intersections in DC. Each morning, the crossing guards furiously blow their whistles, roll their eyes, and generally treat the work force like children who have yet to learn how properly to cross the street. I’ve never received very positive vibes from them either. But the crossing guards in Vegas, now they are a different breed all together. Each morning, I arrive at the convention center looking like I shouldn’t be up at 8am PDT (which still feels like 5am EDT). As I lazily stroll closer and closer, trying to suck up as much caffeine and sun as possible before I head into the buzz of fluorescent lights, there they are. Golden-aged, sun-kissed, smiling faces, waving me across the street with personal greetings to each passerby. They cannot know how much I have thought of them during my stay here, but they certainly make my Vegas life that much more pleasant. Maybe when I retire, I’ll head out west, stop sign and yellow vest in hand, and join the ranks.
Vegas thoughts to be continued…
Lauren Weitzman
"All I want is to be Googleable!"
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